Nagoya basho day 4 highlights

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We had some great bouts today. You can see the results of all bouts here. Day 3 highlights are found here.

Day 4 highlights:

Starting us off early in the Makuuchi division, Maegashira 14, Tochinoshin picked Maegashira 15, Yoshikaze, right off of his feet and followed up by crushing him with a nice yoritaoshi.

Takamisakari had a rather spirited match with Iwakiyama. The two went back and forth until finally Taka managed to drop Iwakiyama with a shitatenage. Taka sits at 2-2.

Kyokutenho, one of the few undefeated rikishi left in the tournament, was handed his first lost today at the hands of Roho (uwatenage).

Baruto defeated Homasho after a close call forced the shinpan to hold a mono-ii (shitatenage).

Aminishiki absolutely leveled Goeido to stand even at 2-2 (tsukitaoshi).

In the most anticipated bout of the day (at least for me), undefeated rikishi Ama and “the upsetter” Toyonoshima went to blows. Ama dominated the fight almost from the beginning sending Toyonoshima to his first loss and putting a damper on the komusubi‘s mean streak that claimed Asashoryu as well as Kotooshu (yorikiri). Ama stands perfect at 4-0

Hometown boy, Kotomitsuki, fell to Tochinonada, dropping him to 3-1 (sukuinage).

Kotooshu made it even today against Futeno. He’ll need to be perfect from here on out to have any real shot of taking the yusho (oshidashi). GO KOTOOSHU!

Yokozuna Asashoryu gave poor little Hokutoriki a nice long stare down before throwing the winless Maegashira to the dohyo (okuritaoshi). Oh, by the way, when I say “poor little Hokutoriki” I mean 300 lbs (147kg) little. The yokozuna is 1 off the pace at 3-1.

In the final bout of the day, yokozuna Hakuho defeated Asasekiryu by way of uwatedashinage. The yokozuna is perfect at 4-0 while Asasekiryu (also known as “Sexy” among some sumo fans) is win-less.

At the end of day 4 there are only 3 rikishi with a perfect 4-0 record. Still plenty of days left in the basho, so it will be exciting to see if they can keep it up! Check back later for video of today’s bouts!

Nagoya 2008 – 琴欧州万歳！頑張れ！

Kotoshu winning his first Yusho in May

Today, is the start of the Nagoya basho and with it comes high hopes for my favorite Ozeki, and perhaps, after this tournament, the first European yokozuna, Kotoōshū. I’ve been following him since right after he joined the ranks of the 幕内 (makuuchi) or highest division of sumo. That means its been about 4 years now and its been quite a ride. A couple injuries have hurt his chances in previous tournaments, but Koto is fresh off his first 優勝 (yusho) or tournament victory. That was a very big first for the sumo world, because it was the first time a European born 力士(rikishi/sumo wrestler) had won a tournament. He needs to win this tournament in Nagoya to give him a serious chance at promotion to sumo’s top spot. I will be watching the live feed from Nagoya and of course I’ll be screaming 「琴欧州、頑張れ！」 (Do your best, Kotoōshū!)

[Thanks to Morio for his excellent picture of Kotoōshū receiving the Emperor's cup!]

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Koto dropped his first bout (via oshidashi) to Aminishiki, who he has a losing streak against. Seeing as its still only the first day it is ok. 琴欧州、頑張ってください！